Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for attending. For a number of years now there has been talk of providing a permanent base for the Coast Guard contingent based in west Connemara. As the Minister of State is probably aware, the Coast Guard operates with local crews that operate on a totally voluntary basis and with the helicopter service, which is on contract. The Coast Guard crew in west Connemara has no permanent base whatsoever. The coastline there is very long and indented and the Coast Guard receives frequent call-outs. The reality is that when it is mobilising and after it mobilises and returns from a mission, the crew has nowhere to meet to debrief, there are no toilets available to them, and nowhere to change their clothes or take a shower. They literally have nowhere to go. This is totally unsatisfactory.

There has been talk for the past number of years - I have correspondence dating back to 2017 and earlier - stating that the Coast Guard would be provided with a permanent location. The most obvious place in west Connemara is at the airstrip which was built at Cluain Leacht an Abba, just outside Cleggan in County Galway. It is so suitable because it is very accessible by road to all of the coastline from Killary all of the way down beyond Clifden and into Ballyconneely. The reality is that having the boat at that location is perfectly satisfactory because it is towed behind a trailer and can be launched wherever it is needed. It is not kept it at one pier and launched from there. The boat can be launched from any slip, once one can get it to the relevant location.

The location of a base was agreed. The Coast Guard wrote to what was then the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht a number of years ago and there was vague reference to building a permanent base for the local crew at that location. The other huge advantage is that every time the Coast Guard helicopter comes to Connemara, for training purposes of whatever, and needs to land, this is always and obviously done at the airstrip. It is safe and the Coast Guard crews know its location. It is what it says on the tin: an airstrip, and is very suitable for the Coast Guard.

When will the Minister show concern for these volunteers who give up time and effort to engage in sophisticated training? Following the accident that occurred in County Clare, such training is becoming even more rigorous, as is the training for helicopter crews. The crews do this training together. When will they receive access to the basic human facilities? It is not much to ask that such facilities be provided to people who give so much on a voluntary basis.

What I hope to hear is that the Minister is now moving forward with this project, which would very low-cost in nature. The site and everything is there, it is just a question of erecting the buildings.

I hope that the reason the Minister could not be here is that he has good news for me and is going to announce that I need not have tabled this issue for debate because the Department is going to do the decent thing and provide this long-promised base.

Frank O'Rourke (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State has four minutes to give the good news.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Ó Cuív for raising this matter and for his interest in it. The Minister cannot be present - the Deputy can take that as he will - but I will be as helpful as I can in my response.

I acknowledge the work of the Coast Guard and its teams. The job they do is often difficult and challenging. I appreciate the need for a new permanent Coast Guard base at Cleggan. As the Deputy mentioned, the Coast Guard unit based there is designated as a shoreline search unit and operates out of an historic rocket house with inadequate facilities. All volunteer Coast Guard units are categorised as shoreline search units and other units are assigned additional functions. For example, Westport is designated as a search and boat unit and Doolin is designated as a search, cliff and boat unit.

The Coast Guard is endeavouring to secure a suitable base for the Cleggan unit. Unfortunately, few local opportunities have emerged. The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport registered an interest with the then Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht as far back as 2015 in acquiring a site at the local airstrip in Cleggan. There have been ongoing communications since then between the Departments of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and Transport, Tourism and Sport.

I will outline some of that engagement. In 2015, the latter Department requested that the Office of Public Works, OPW, conduct a feasibility study of the potential use of space on the airstrip for a Coast Guard facility. That study, with an appropriate assessment screening, was completed in March 2016 and submitted by the OPW to the then Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht for consideration and, if appropriate, the approval of that Department. Subject to that approval, the OPW proposed to submit a planning application for provision of a Coast Guard station on part of the airstrip on the basis of the feasibility study. A written consent of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, as the site owner, is required to accompany any such planning application.

It was initially proposed to accommodate the Coast Guard from an earlier date by way of a temporary structure arrangement, to be followed by an application for a permanent new building within the lifetime of the temporary permission for the temporary structure, which would have been two to five years if granted. The then Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht gave its consent to such a planning application in April 2016. However, I understand that the OPW is yet to pursue the drafting of the application, as the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht has stated that the method by which the formal transfer of the relevant portion of the site will be achieved has not yet been finalised by that Department.

It has been brought to my attention that this matter has been raised with the Department a number of times, including as recently as this May. The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport will await a response from the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. The process is moving, however, and there has been considerable engagement back and forth, but it appears that the latter Department needs to sign off on certain matters.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I am sure the Minister of State shares my concern and frustration when Departments start pushing paper around from one to the other as if they are not all part of the same public service or the functioning of the Government, which is a collective of 15 people who are meant to ensure that all Departments work in tandem rather than against one another as rival companies. At what stage does the Government interfere and tell Departments that an answer is needed? Of course, there is always one quick way of getting an answer from a Department that is swinging the lead, so I do not accept the excuses from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. If it was not getting an answer from the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in its various manifestations - it is now the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht - all it had to do was bring an aide-mémoire to the Cabinet. I assure the Minister of State that there would have been an answer from that Department and its Minister before the aide-mémoire ever got onto the Cabinet agenda. The Ministers all sit around the table together. It is their job collectively to run the country. I find this extraordinary.

I have with me a letter from 2017. It is part of the tennis match, where the ball is played into the other court, returns, gets played back again and so on without anything happening. This is a very simple issue. A lease or some other arrangement must be reached to permit the Coast Guard to erect its temporary and permanent structures. Actually, we can forget about the temporary structure at this stage and just go for the permanent one. Planning permission has to be acquired, but it has never been sought, and the structure must be built.

Would it be possible for the Minister of State to revert to the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport on foot of my raising this issue and ask for a timeline for the project and a list of the steps that need to be taken to bring it to a conclusion? It is time that the people of Connemara who are involved in the Coast Guard have set out for them the steps to be taken, the bodies responsible and the timeline to be adhered to. Obfuscating and moving the issue from one body to another is not acceptable, as the collective Government should ensure that bodies answer one another.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Not knowing enough about this specific case, I can appreciate from the Deputy's response that it has been ongoing for some time. Clearly, there is a need for a structure, which the Government acknowledges. The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, as part of the Coast Guard's multi-annual building programme, which is funded through that Department, has included a provision for a permanent Coast Guard base at Cleggan. It remains a priority for the Department. Obviously, there has been some toing and froing between the two Departments. I am informed that the OPW and the Department requested updates numerous times on the transfer of lands from the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, most recently in May. They are awaiting a response.

I will relay the Deputy's frustration around the fact that this process is taking so long, but there have been further developments. The Cleggan unit has been prioritised by the Coast Guard for the new unmanned aerial vehicle, UAV, drones function and training. It is one of three units prioritised for this function and has undertaken training on the airstrip site. However, the burning issue is the need to have a permanent structure in place so that the Coast Guard and its crews have the facilities required to perform all of the functions that the Deputy has outlined they cannot currently perform at Cleggan. It is a priority and has been included in the multi-annual building programme. I will ask the Minister to revert to the Deputy with some form of a timeline. I will also raise the matter with the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.